158th Meeting of the E.S.I. Corporation

New Delhi, Nov 10: The 158th Meeting of the E.S.I. Corporation today held under the Chairmanship of Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge here in New Delhi. The meeting was convened to approve the Annual Report and Annual Account – 2011-2012 of the Corporation before it is submitted to the Central Government for laying on the table of the both Houses of the Parliament.

Addressing the members Shri Kharge expressed satisfaction on the well being of ESIC for increase of revenue from Rs. 8393.55 crores during the year 2011-12 in comparison to Rs. 6980.61 crores last year. Accordingly, the Corporation has spent Rs. 3374.67 crores in the year 2011-12 on Medical, Cash and other benefits, he added.

The minister also lauded the performance of ESIC and appreciated it for making a powerful presence at the world forum of ISSA by winning 3 Certificates of Merit in ISSA Good Practice Award, ASIA and Pacific Competition-2012. The Certificates of Merit in the categories of Extension of Social Security Coverage; Adequacy and Quality of Social Security Benefits and Services and Administrative and Operational Efficiency were awarded to the ESIC by the ISSA in the ISSA Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and Pacific held recently at Seoul, Republic of Korea.

He further expressed the hope that the performance of the ESI Scheme will further excel in coming years.

The Agenda Items discussed during the meeting were related to welfare of beneficiaries. This included - Enhancement of Confinement Expenses for confinement taking place outside ESI Dispensaries/Hospital from Rs. 2,500/- to Rs. 5,000/- ; Enhancement in the PDB and DB Benefit Rates to address the erosion in the real value due to inflation; Enhancement of the limit of daily rate of PDB for commutation; and setting-up of New ESI Hospital in Kanyakumari (TN).